Now, as a parent of three, this mission is more urgent than ever. Technology is reshaping childhood, pulling kids toward screens, fuelling comparison, and crowding out real play. Radish is how we respond: combining storybooks, parent–child conversations, and digital tools to help families grow wiser, kinder digital kids.

Myself and my co-founder Alex are passionate, that this isn’t just a product. It’s a passion carried through three generations of research, teaching, and parenting — from a government-backed anti-drugs campaign in the 1970s to today’s movement for digital wellbeing.

Because childhood should be about curiosity, play, and learning how to thrive in a world where technology is part of life — but not the whole of it.

Our story starts in the 1970s with my dad. Working with Health Canada, he created the original Hole in the Fence stories as part of a national anti-drugs education campaign. The goal wasn’t to frighten children with warnings, but to give them practical decision-making tools through relatable characters and everyday dilemmas. The programme was groundbreaking, showing that story and empathy could be powerful weapons against risky behaviour.

In the late 1980s, my mum began her further education journey at the University of Kent. At 45, while raising three young children, she chose to focus her undergraduate research on the original Hole in the Fence programme created by my dad for Health Canada.